Mowing-machine



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.`

A. STEVENS. MOWING MACHINE.

Patented Oct. 27, 1891.

.N NWN (No Model.)

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2 Sheets Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

A. STEVENS.

M'OWING MACHINE.

No. 461,854.. Patented Oct. 27, 1891.

` S11/wanton ma nonms Pe'rzis co., Pnoumo., wAsHmGTou, D. l:4

UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

ANSEL STEVENS, or Goni-IAM, -ASSIGNOR 0E ONE-HALE To roi-INS. E'RYE,

oF PORTLAND, MAINE.

IVIOWlNG-MACHI'NE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 461,854, dated October 27, 1891.

Application tiled April lO, 1890.

zen of the United States, residing at Gorham,

in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have in'vented certainnew and useful VImprovements in -Mowing-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the Same.

This invention has reference to certain new and useful improvements in Inowingmachin es; and it relates more particularly, first, to the manner of mounting the couplingframe, the crank-shaft, and cutter-driving gearing, so that the cutting apparatus may rise and fall without disarranging the relative positions of the parts, and, second, to the coustruotion of the finger-bar, whereby greater strength and stiffness in proportion to the weight are secured than in any of the frames heretofore used.

The accompanying drawings show the i11- vention as applied to a two-wheel front-cut mower, and the description is also confined to that form; but it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the improvements are also applicable to rear-cut machines, it being only necessary to arrange the parts in rear of the axle instead ot' in front, as here shown, their relation to each other remaining the same.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view, the gearing being sectioned. Fig. 2 is a section on the. line .fr Fig. 3 is a cross-section of thev-nger-bar. g

A A denote the supporting-wheels; B, the frame, supported from the axle by a tubular bearing-box integral with the frame; C, the tongue, rigid with the frame, and D the ordinary seat, the construction and arrangement of these parts being now well known and forming in themselves no part of my invention.

E is a constantly-driven gear-Wheel on the axle, from which the crank-shaft and gearingare driven; The frame-casting on one side of the tongue is cut away, as shown, so as to form a yoke or fork consisting of the part n, of the frame and the arm projecting forward from its stubble side and curved downserni No. 347,352. (No moin.)

fulcrum-pin, for a purpose which will presently be explained.

F is the tubular crank-shaft housing. It is provided near its rear end with bearingsleeves f, projecting laterally and diametrically from opposite sides. The stud-shafts d enter these bearing-sleeves, and the housing swings thereon in a vertical plane. Upon the outer one of the stud-axles, between the end of the sleeve f and the eye in the end of the arm h of the frame, is journaled the crown or dished bevel-wheel G, said wheel having on its hub the pinion g, meshing with the gear E on the axle. i

H is a brace extending from the stud-axle on the stubble end outside of the arm b diagonally forward to near the front end of the housing. Within this housing is journaled the usual cutter-driving crank-shaft, having near its rear end the loose bevel-pinion I and on its frontend a common crank-disk, which reciprocates the cutter bya pitman, as usual.

The hinge-bar or coupling-arm J is pivoted at its stubble end to the crank-shaft housing F near its front end in any suitable manner. As here shown, a pintle runs through. an eye in the end of the bar and has its ends fastened in ears or lugs on the housing. The crank-shaft housing projects rearward beyond the stud-axles and terminates in asleeve h just in front of the axle of the machine, so that it may clear the axle as it Swings on its fulcrum on the stud-shafts.

M is a diagonal thrust-brace, which, with the coupling-arm J constitutes the couplingframe. This brace extends from the hingebar near the shoe backward to the rear end ot the crank-shaft housing, where it is pivoted to a lug or lugs on the Sleeve 7L, the pivot being in line with the pintle connecting the coupling-arm or hinge-bar with the frontend of the housing', so that the cutting apparatus and its supportingframe may be raised and ICO lowered inamanner and for a purpose well understood without binding or'cramping of the parts.

Connected at its front end to the housing at a point as near as practicable to its fulcrum, ,where there is the least motion, is the hand-lever L, said lever extending back-over the axle to within convenient reach of the driver in his seat. The lever is connected with the eXtreme rear end of the housing by a link t, (adjustable, if preferred,) connected to the sleeve h, the lever forming as thus connected, practically, an extension of the housing.

4 Rising from the frame-casting just over the axle is the rack-segment K, alongside of which plays the lever L and into which the usual hand-controlled spring-pawl with which the lever is provided engages, so as to lock the lever at different points when it is desired to fix and hold the cutting apparatus in any particular position. The hand-hold of the lever is provided with a small bail b', as shown. This is for the purpose of holding thespringpawl out of engagement with the rack, so as to allow the shoe and the cutting apparatus when the machine isin operation to vrock and ride freely over the undulations of the ground. The bevel-pinionI on the crankshaft meshes with and is constantly driven by the crown or dished wheel G, and is connected to or disconnectedfrom theshaft at pleasure bya clutch, as shown. This clutch is of the ordinary form and is splined to slide on the shaft and revolve constantly therewith. It is controlled by a small foot-lever pivoted to a web or ange of the crank-shaft housing, as clearlyshown in Fig. l. As thus constructed and arranged it will lbe seen that the cutting apparatus is free to rise and fall on an axis in the line of draft, and also that it may rock or tilt freely on an axis at right angles thereto, so as to accommodate itself to the undulations of the soil, and that these rocking or rising-ai'id-falling movements will in no wayinterfere with the free and easy working of the cutter. axis of the crank-shaft housing being coincident with that of the gear which drives it, the

" relation of all the parts swinging on this axis is not disturbed by the movements of the cuttin-g apparatus.

Myimprovements in the construction of the finger-bar will now be described. Instead of making this bar of iiat pieces of rolled steel, I form it in the manner shown in the drawings, whereby I am enabled to use lighter stuff and produce a bar having much greater strength and stiffness inL proportion to the weight than any heretofore known. The bar N isv formed, preferably, out of a single sheet of steel bent or folded over i'nto the form show-n in Fig. 3, having an upper and lower horizontal iiange joined at the back by a vertical part, making, practically, a hollow bar rectangular incrosssection and open at the front to receive the shanks of the guard-iin` gers. To still further straighten this iinger- The bar, .I arrangel on the inside, parallel with its front edge, ja bar O, of steel lor iron, and secure the same in place by means of the same clips P which are riveted o n top of the bar and overhang the reciprocating cutter-bar, so as to hold it down to its work. These clips lare shaped and constructed as shown in Figs. l and They span the space between any two of the fingers, and are secured on top of the bar by the bolts or rivets which clamp the Shanks of the fingers, passing also through their laterally-extending arms. The rear end of these clips is provided with a tail-piece p, which projects through an opening cut in the top flange of the finger-bar and sets in just behind the bar O, so as to form an abutment therefor and hold the samesecurely in place at the back. The guard-fingers are constructed with plain Arectangular shanks s, adapted to fit in between the upper and lower anges of the finger-bar. These Shanks extend into t-he'hollow bar and abut at their rear ends against the stiffening-bar O therein. The iingers are securely clamped in position by bolts and nuts passing through both flanges of the nger-,bar'and their shanks. The stiffeningbar is thus held in Xed position between the tail-pieces p of the clips and the shanks s of the fingers, and all the parts are rigidly secured together by the bolts and nuts. This, it will be understood, forms a light yet stiff, compact, and strong bar, adapted to withstand all lateral strains and particularly useful in that class of machines where the baris floated or spring-supported at its heel end and which are designed to cut a wide swath.

I do not intend tok be restricted to the precise details of the construction and arrangement of parts herein shown and described, nor to the use of all the parts in connection with each other, as it is obvious that these details may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention, and that some of the featuresmay be used without the others.

Having thus described the invention, whatI claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

l. In a mower, the combination of the axle, the frame forked, recessed, or cut away, as described, in front of the axle, the tongue rigidly connected to the frame, stud-shafts fixed on the frame parallel vwith and in front of the axle and projecting toward each other from opposite sides of the recess, a crankshaft housing having tubular trunnions between its ends, by means of which it is pivoted on the stud-shafts, a crown or dis-hed gear-wheel journaled on the shaft and driven directly by a gear on the axle, and a pinion on the crank-shaft in rear of the stud-shafts and driven by the dished gear, substantially- IOO l'IO

of the axle and projecting toward' each other from opposite sides of the recess, a crankshaft housing pivoted on and swinging between the ends of the shafts, a hand-lever connected directly with the housing, and a fixed segment-rack on the frame for rocking the housing on the stud-shafts and locking it in fixed position, substantially as described.

In a mower, the combination ofthe axle, the frame forked, recessed, or cut away, as described, in front of the axle,the tongue rigidly connected to the frame, stud-shafts fixed on the frame parallel with and in front of the axle and projecting toward each other from opposite sides of the recess, a crank-shaft housing pivoted on the stud-shafts by means of tubular trunnions between its ends, the hinge-bar, and the diagonal brace pivoted to the housing at the front and rear ends, respectively, on a line parallel with the shaft, substantially as described.

4t. In a mower, the combination of the axle, the frame forked,irecessed, or cut away, described, in front of the axle, the tongue rigid with the frame, stud-shafts iixed on the frame parallel with and in front of the axle and projecting toward each other from opposite sides of the recess, a crank-shaft housing having tubular truunions between its ends, by means of which it is pivoted on the studshafts, so as to swing between their ends, a brace extending from the stubble end of the outer stud-shaft to the front end of the housing, the hinge-bar, and the diagonal thrustbar pivotally connected with the housing at its front and rear ends, respectively, a dished y gear on the outer stud-shaft, driven by a gear on the axle, a pinion on the rear end of the crank-shaft, engaging with the dished gear, and a lever to rock the houslng on its fulcrum on the stud-shafts, so as to raise and lower the cutting apparatus, substantially as .of the finger-Shanks and being held in place by removable lugs at the back, substantially as described.

6. The combination of the linger-bar formed of a plate of metal folded upon itself longitudinally, as described, the guard-ii n gers having their shanks inserted in the open front edge of the bar, the separate strengtheningbar secured in place between the upper and lower flanges of the finger-bar, the clip for holding the cutter-bar down to its seat, bolts or rivets passing through the arms of the clip and through the finger-bar and the shanks of the fingers, and a nib on the rear end of the clip, extending through a hole in the upper flange of the finger-bar and fitting behind and holding in place the separate stiifening-bar, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANSEL STEVENS.

Witnesses:

Il. B. ZEvELY, J. A. GoLDsBoRoUGH. 

